When in Mirkwood
by KAH617
Summary: Aragorn's first trip to Mirkwood early in his friendship with Legolas. Friendship building with some fluff and drama. Sequel to my story On the Road to Imladris, but it's not 100% necessary
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Yay new story! Okay so this is gonna be more drama than adventure. It is technically the sequel to my story On the Road to Imladris, but it can be easily understood without it. It's Aragorn's first trip to Mirkwood. Hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I am not Tolkien (obviously)**

Aragorn took in a sharp breath as he stood and stretched his back. His nearly healed dagger wound tugged at his stomach. He and Legolas had left Rivendell as soon as they could convince Elrond that he was able to travel. It had been sooner than Elrond would normally have allowed, but due to the urgency of their errand back to Mirkwood, he had consented to let them travel on the assurance that Aragorn would not overexert himself. Legolas had clearly taken these instructions far too seriously because despite Aragorn's own assurances, Legolas had insisted on his resting while he scouted ahead.

Aragorn paced slowly as he waited for the elf to return. He did not appreciate being left behind. He had expressed that to the elf, but Legolas insisted and then leapt into a tree and sprinted off through the neighboring trees faster than Aragorn could follow.

For the time being, the man took the time to look around at the trees that made up the edge of Mirkwood's forest. He was analyzing one tree to see if he could climb it when something dropped to the ground behind him.

Aragorn spun on his heel, a jolt of adrenaline rushing through him. "You've _got _to stop doing that!"

Legolas laughed aloud, "I will stop doing 'that', human, when you manage to catch me before I do."

Aragorn glared at him for a few more seconds before rolling his eyes, "Can we continue now? I'm tired of sitting here." He made a mental note to listen more closely for the elf next time. He had very good hearing for a human due to his Numenorean descent and experience with the Rangers, but elves were difficult to hear especially a wood elf in his home forest.

Legolas grinned and seemed to stand a little taller as he led him farther into the forest, "Welcome to Mirkwood!"

As few minutes after their entry, a patrol of elves surrounded them.

"Legolas!" The voice came from high in the tree, but there was a flash of motion, and a dark-haired elf appeared in the lower branches. He leapt lightly to the ground and greeted the prince with a bow.

"Therion! It is good to see you mellon-nin." He greeted his friend with a smile and a hand on his shoulder and turned towards his companion. "Therion, this is E—"

"Strider, a Ranger of the north." Aragorn interrupted him quickly, but not harshly.

Their eyes met for a moment, but Legolas recovered from his confusion quickly. "He has come to help teach us new medicines sent by Lord Elrond."

Therion nodded a greeting to Aragorn before turning back toward the forest. "Let us escort you to the city."

The group made their way through the forest and Aragorn hung back slightly to allow Legolas time with his friend. He was the last in the group as most of the other woodland elves took to the trees. Aragorn was used to not being completely welcomed in new places. The rangers were often not quite accepted, but reputation as wanderers allowed them to appear wherever they wanted without questioning. Still, after growing up amongst elves in Rivendell, he had hoped for a warmer welcome in Mirkwood.

Once they arrived at the palace, Legolas addressed Galion, the butler, "Will you prepare the guest room next to my own. And please send someone to tell my father I have returned with the help he requested?"

Therion dismissed the rest of the patrol, but walked with the pair of friends until they reached their rooms talking to Legolas the entire time. An elf was already there to open the room for Aragorn. With a nod to the two elves the man quietly said, "Excuse me," entered his room and closed the door.

Legolas turned to the other elf once the ranger had vanished. "Therion, why are you being so rude to our guest?"

"I was not being rude, I simply had nothing to say to the human."

Legolas stared hard at his friend, "You were being rude, you followed us all the way up here even though it was unnecessary and purposefully excluded him from the conversation. Simply because he is human, you think him unimportant. He is my friend and guest. You should act accordingly."

Therion hung his head slightly, "I am sorry to disappoint you. If it is as you say, I will try to be more polite."

Legolas gave him a small smile, "Hannon le, while I appreciate your concern, you can start by leaving us and going on with your duties. There is no danger here."

Therion nodded and started down the hallway. "I am glad you are back, Legolas."

"As am I."

Legolas quickly changed and knocked on the Ranger's door. When he was admitted, Aragorn had cleaned up, and while he was not an elf, he did look presentable.

"You no longer smell like a Ranger, would you care to tell me why you want to be known only as one?" He understood why he did not tell his true name, but Legolas wanted to know why he was still hiding other parts of his identity.

Aragorn smiled at the jibe about the Rangers then shrugged. "I wish to be known for the person I am. I do not wish to be treated with forced respect simply because I am the adopted son of Lord Elrond. Though I am not sure it is going very well so far." The last part was spoken in a low voice, but Legolas' elven hearing easily picked it up.

"If you are referring to Therion, I have spoken to him. My people are not used to outsiders, even other elves. Your actions will speak for themselves, mellon-nin, you just have to give them a chance to."

Aragorn blushed slightly knowing Legolas had already had to defend him, but he trusted Legolas so he pushed those feelings aside and focused on making a good impression on the other elves.

"One such action will be your teaching of the medicines! Come, I'm sure my father is ready for us!" Legolas crossed the room to the door in three steps. He was so eager to go that Aragorn found himself excited to meet the king as well. He grinned and followed his friend out the door.

**Let me know what you thought of Chapter 1! **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Shoutout to Frodo's Sister & AraneltheSilvan for reviewing chapter 1! Also, shoutout to Cuthalion97 for beta-ing for me! Hope everyone enjoys Chapter 2! **

"Ada, it is good to see you." Legolas smiled broadly as he pushed open the doors to the council chamber.

The room was empty, apart from Thranduil, who smiled at his son. "Welcome home, ion-nin."

Aragorn followed in closely behind Legolas. Thranduil raised an eyebrow slightly at his entrance, but quickly assumed a formal facial expression.

"Ada, let me introduce Strider, a Ranger of the North."

Aragorn gave the king a short, graceful bow. "It is an honor to be here in Mirkwood."

"And how does a Ranger end up in Mirkwood?" Thranduil asked stiffly.

Legolas glanced at Aragorn, who took it upon himself to answer. "I have been trained in healing by Lord Elrond for many years. I was in Imladris when the prince arrived and had long desired to see the beauty of Mirkwood. So, I offered to travel back with him to help with the more complicated medicines."

"I appreciate the time you took for the journey, but I assure you, we can handle the medicines. You may rest for a few days, and be on your way," Thranduil responded and motioned for the doors to be opened, dismissing the human. Placing a hand on Legolas' shoulder he guided him away asking, "May we speak, ion-nin?"

At a rare loss for words, Aragorn's eyes flitted towards Legolas, who was instead studying the ground. At the absence of his friend's gaze, Aragorn turned his eyes to the ground as well and forced his face to show calm composure. He managed to bow stiffly to the king before leaving the room in a daze.

Legolas doubted his father truly needed to talk to him, but he had not wanted to argue with his father in front of his guest. Once the doors had been shut behind Aragorn, Legolas spoke. "Strider is not leaving in a few days." Legolas crossed his arms and set his feet apart daring his father to challenge him.

Thranduil, though equally stubborn, did not think the matter worth arguing over. "It is good to see you too. Worry not. You have brought the medicines and our healers will be more than adequate. He does not need to stay."

"You don't even know what medicines I have brought back. Strider is a more advanced healer than most we have here. You cannot deny our people a good healer simply because he is not an elf! Besides, he is not just a healer. He is my friend and staying here as my guest."

Thranduil raised his eyebrows, "Your friend? He is mortal and will be here and gone the blink of an eye. Humans are unreliable and easily swayed. You do not need his friendship."

Legolas felt his irritation rising at his father's unwillingness accept his friend. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to keep himself from blurting out Aragorn's identity. He glared harshly at his father and in a quiet voice replied, "You think him untrustworthy, yet he has already saved my life at no small risk to himself. I am decided on this. Unless you want me to leave too, you will not force him to leave." Without waiting for a reply, Legolas spun around, and, pushing the doors open with a powerful bang, strode out of the room.

Once Aragorn was outside the room, he realized he did not know the way back to his rooms. He glanced around momentarily, but not seeing any elves that seemed willing to help, he sank onto the nearest bench to wait. His head snapped up when he heard the doors burst open.

As a prince, Legolas had many years of practice of concealing his emotions when he wished. He smiled as he spotted his friend and gestured for him to follow. "Come on, I'll show you around the palace."

Aragorn glanced at the elf's face, trying to gauge his mood. "You don't have to. I don't want to be in the way."

"Nonsense. You need some sense of direction, we can't have you getting lost. That would be quite embarrassing for a ranger." The elf laughed slightly, but the laughter did not reach his eyes, which still flashed with irritation.

Although he may have seemed calm to most, Legolas walked with a determinedly quick pace, as if he wanted to get as far away from the council chamber as possible. Aragorn was uncertain of what the elf's actions meant. He guessed that the elf was trying not to make him uncomfortable even though he would be leaving soon. "No, truly, if you can just take me back to my room, I can prepare to leave tomorrow."

Legolas stopped in his tracks and turned to face his friend. His irritation melted away as he realized how Aragorn must be feeling. "You are not leaving tomorrow or anytime soon." The elf hesitated slightly. "Unless you wish to, that is."

Aragorn broke eye contact and chewed at the inside of his lip. "Are you sure it is a good idea for me to stay? I don't want to cause problems between you and your father."

Legolas shrugged "My father and I have had far worse arguments. He is hesitant to accept what he does not know. We have grown accustomed to only relying on our own here. It takes him a little longer to trust." He paused. "Telling him you'd saved my life didn't hurt, though."

Legolas smirked at the human, whose serious look slowly broke into a grin. "Well, I guess I can stay to ensure you don't need my superior healing skills. You seem to enjoy seeking out danger."

"In that case, maybe I should start by showing you where the healing halls are. We need to take the medicine there since that's why you're supposed to be here, anyway."

Aragorn still felt uncomfortable, knowing the friction his presence in Mirkwood was causing for his friend. He told himself he could always leave if it became worse. Feeling the elf waiting for him, he nodded, and the pair walked and laughed, leaving the uneasiness behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Woo some action! Thanks again to those who have reviewed! Hope you enjoy Ch 3! **

Early the next morning, Aragorn was awakened by light filtering in. He peeked his eyes open and murmured, "Go away…too early" to the shadow standing in front of the open windows.

Legolas laughed and moved so that even more light filled the room. "Oh, no you don't. We have to get moving if you're going to join the hunting party today."

Aragorn ran his hands through his hair not quitter willing to get up yet when he realized Legolas had said if. "Wait, you would just leave me here?" he cried incredulously.

"If you'd rather sleep, you could always try to catch up with us later," Legolas smirked.

Aragorn rolled his eyes at his friend, knowing he had no choice. It would be hopeless to try to track wood elves in Mirkwood and he certainly had no intention of staying with the other elves and wait for them to return. "Fine, give me ten minutes."

Soon the small group of elves rode out. The coolness of the morning woke Aragorn up ('fully' instead of 'up'?) as he admired his surroundings. He knew the forest had been growing darker of late and was imagining it in its full glory when his thoughts were interrupted.

"Strider?" Aragorn felt a moment of embarrassed confusion when he realized Therion was clearly waiting for him to respond to something. "I asked what you thought of Mirkwood so far."

"It's perfect." Aragorn replied honestly as he continued to gaze around him. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the elf smiling at his response.

Other than Therion and Legolas, the other elves did not attempt much conversation with Aragorn, but the day passed uneventfully.

As they began settling into the camp for the night, Legolas commented, "It is strange that we have not seen any game yet; usually it is plentiful in this area."

Aragorn had opened his mouth to respond when suddenly Legolas held up his hand. The elf's eyes shifted quickly through the camp as the other elves also froze. Therion and Legolas made eye contact and reached for their bows. The lack of smiles on their faces told Aragorn it was not a deer they heard.

Moments later, the scuttling of feet through the foliage of the forest floor disrupted the silence. Even as a stranger to Mirkwood, Aragorn knew it was a spider –or more than one. He quickly drew his sword and joined the circle of elves preparing to fight.

The spiders darted around the border of the clearing and would soon surround the group entirely. Releasing a sharp breath, Aragorn brought his sword down sharply into the red spot on the back of the nearest spider. He sidestepped as the spider hissed and reared back slightly. It continued to charge at him as Aragorn's continued slashes did little damage to the spider.

Legolas felt the world slow down around him as his instincts kicked in and without having to think about it, he fired shot after shot at the spiders. His blue eyes were tracking their next target when he spotted the spider attacking the human, who was clearly losing. Realizing his friend did not know the spider's weak spots, moved a few steps away from the center of the battle to help his friend.

Aragorn released a small breath of relief as he tracked the arrow that had killed the spider in front of him. He met Legolas' eyes with a grin. The grin quickly faded as one of the other spiders was able to reach Legolas, who was now outside of the circle of elves. It bit him even as another elf rushed in to kill the evil creature.

Aragorn was the first to reach Legolas' side and he lifted the unconscious elf's body to see the bite in his shoulder. He began to feel panic rise as another elf stooped down by the prince's side. "Is he going to be all right?" The other elf did not respond, but briefly glared at the human before turning to speak quietly to another elf.

"Will somebody please tell me what is going on? I'm a healer. Let me help," he demanded as forcefully as he could, though his voice trailed off at the end. Even as he spoke, he realized he could not make an antidote for the spider venom without time to study it.

"We do not need any more of your help. He would not have been in danger if it wasn't for your inability to fight one spider," one of the other elves fumed, with a glare that would scare most humans.

Aragorn felt guilt settle into his heart as he realized the others elves blamed him. He sat down next to Legolas and checked his pulse again as he waited for the elves to tell him what the plan was.

Therion squatted next to him and spoke quietly. "The spider bite is not deadly, but he will need the antivenom as quickly as possible. It is too dangerous for all of us to travel tonight. We are sending our two fastest riders back, so that when we travel back tomorrow the antivenom will be prepared." He stood up, but glancing back down said, "Do not let the others get to you. Legolas would not want you to blame yourself."

Aragorn slept fitfully that night, as he kept waking up to check on Legolas. He was tired but ready when the elves rose early to return to the palace. By morning most of their anger towards the ranger seemed to have been replaced by concern for the prince.

Aragorn stubbornly refused to leave his friend's side even once they had arrived back late in the afternoon and Legolas was taken to his room to be treated.

One healer kindly explained to Aragorn that Legolas was no longer in danger, " However, the venom often causes headaches so we include a sleeping draught in the antivenom. He will be asleep for a while. You can go freshen up and come back later." Despite this, Aragorn could not bring himself to leave his friend until he had seen him awake. The stress of the travel and lack of rest the night before caught up with him and the human soon nodded off on the chair he had pulled next to his friend's bed.

He jolted awake to a thump as the door burst open. A strong elven hand caught it before it could slam into the wall and woke the prince, sedative or not. Aragorn cringed inwardly as he looked up at the Elvenking whose icy stare made the human wonder if looks could actually kill.

Thranduil spoke quietly so as not to wake his son, but this only served to increase the ferocity of his voice. "You spent one day with him, and he is already injured. Go back to the rangers and stay away from my son."


End file.
